


Dance Lessons

by novaartinoisaqueen



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Post Season 5, also i need to see some fluff in space so that’s what this is, entrapta and other princesses mentioned, listen adora cannot dance for shit and I stand by that, minor glimmbow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24796006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novaartinoisaqueen/pseuds/novaartinoisaqueen
Summary: The friendly laughter from their audience increased. It was Catra who spoke up. “Claiming you’re a good dancer is like saying Bow hates crop tops.”Adora glared at her. Catra only winked and crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. “You’re supposed to take my side.”-when they’re not restoring magic to the universe, the best friend squad is relaxing on She-Ra’s ship, Darla, or in Adora’s case, learning to dance.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Bow (She-Ra), Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 249





	Dance Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> despite how good adora is at everything, she’s terrible at being graceful and having etiquette, so that’s essentially how this fic was born. i regret absolutely nothing because i needed to write some fluff. also, i stole inspiration from the best book to movie adaptation for the dance adora’s learning (it’s truly an iconic scene). come find me on tumblr, emybain, or my she ra side blog, catradora-bitch, and say hi!
> 
> EDIT: ive changed my side blog user to adoraspumpkin (for the fall season;) )

“Just think of it in triplets, like the waltz from earlier.” Glimmer grimaced as Adora stepped on her toes when they crossed paths. “No, no, no, Adora, we weave past one another on our left sides, not right. Don’t make me tell you again.”

Adora groaned and turned to face the shorter girl. They stepped toward one another and interlaced arms, turning clockwise once before letting go and going opposite ways again. She glanced over at Bow and Catra, who were watching the scene and exchanging snickers. What she would give to be them right now. “I’m sorry, Glimmer. It’s just-” they made a figure eight passing one another again-“is this really necessary? I’m a decent dancer!” 

The friendly laughter from their audience increased. It was Catra who spoke up. “Claiming you’re a good dancer is like saying Bow hates crop tops.”

Adora glared at her. Catra only winked and crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. “You’re supposed to take my side.”

“You stepped on me three times at the ball last month,” Catra replied without skipping a beat. “And seeing as I’m stuck with you weirdos, that means I’ll be going to a lot more balls in the future, and I’ll be doing a lot of dancing with you.” She examined her claws. “Please don’t make me start wearing shoes to those things. It’s bad enough I’m forced to be social.”

“Adora, focus!” Glimmer grabbed Adora’s arms and dragged her in front of her and to the left after they let go of one another’s hands. Adora knew that, and definitely wasn’t about to go right.

The Best Friend Squad had finally embarked on their journey to bring magic back to the universe, two months after Horde Prime’s defeat. They had wanted to leave right away, but with Etheria being in disarray and reparations to be made and celebrations to be held, the mission had to be set to the side. Since then, Adora had traveled all around Etheria to help with whatever she could. Sometimes, she was joined by her friend group, or some of the other princesses, but the only person who went everywhere with her was Catra. Her girlfriend. The word still made Adora’s heart flutter. 

Things were looking up for the two of them, Adora believed. It was hard to recover from their pasts and the trauma Prime inflicted on them, but they were working through it together and with their friends. Catra had even started visiting Perfuma whenever they returned to Bright Moon for therapy sessions, after Adora kept prodding her about it. So far, they weren’t anything too deep, but Adora could tell that their sessions were helping Catra heal. She was getting better, growing happier and more trusting of others than just Adora, even being more open with her feelings. As for Adora, she sometimes joined Catra to her sessions, finding them insightful for her own problems. Perfuma was highly intelligent when it came to the inner workings of the brain and finding peace with oneself. She was always patient with Adora, even when Adora got frustrated and couldn’t figure out the answers she wanted. There were still parts of herself that Adora still didn’t understand or was confused about, but there had been improvements. There was no doubt about that. 

When they weren’t repairing their world or going to therapy with Perfuma, they were resting alone or with their friends or at celebrations. This meant lots of formal wear, socializing, and unfortunately, dancing. The parties were fun, of course, but there were just so many different kinds of dances, depending on which kingdom was hosting, and Adora was only one person. 

The squad had been in space for about two weeks now, after things finally calmed down in Etheria enough for Bright Moon’s queen to relinquish power to her father in her absence and for the rest of them to head off into the unknown on She-Ra’s ship, appropriately named Darla. They had already visited one planet, but after finding nothing but a barren wasteland that nearly killed them, they were back on the road. Or, metaphorical road, Adora supposed. It would take a few more days to reach the next planet that had showed up on Darla’s system, so they had plenty of time to do whatever. For Glimmer, this meant teaching Adora how to dance.

She decided the best way for Adora to learn would be by teaching a dance a day. Today, Adora was learning a traditional Etherian dance usually taught at a young age due to its simplicity and cultural meaning. Well, while other children had been busy twirling and having fun, Adora had been learning how to fight and protect herself and the Horde.

“And then we start back over,” Glimmer explained as they rounded their nonexistent fellow dancers and stepped toward one another once again, turning and stepping back. “Ready to put it to music?” 

“Can’t we be done for today, Glimmer?” Adora eyed her abandoned map and pencils that sat on one of Darla’s window ledges. She had been passing the time by sketching out a map of their travels, one of her newest hobbies, before Glimmer had yanked her away. She found mapping to be...relaxing. The complete opposite of what she was currently doing. 

“No.” Glimmer nodded to Bow, who pressed a button on his touchpad. Soft music filled the room. Letting out a frustrated huff, Adora bent her knees in a slight curtsy before they started the dance over again. Everything was going fine, for once, until she tripped over Glimmer’s boot trying to smoothly glide around her. 

The music paused as Adora stopped to rub at her ankle, a dull pain shooting through it. 

“Adora-”

“Glimmer,” Bow interrupted, taking a few steps in her direction to pull his girlfriend back before she laid a verbal attack on Adora, “maybe a five minute break? You’ve been trying to teach it over and over for an hour now, and Adora’s clearly not getting it.”

“But-” 

“Let it settle in her brain for a few minutes while you two get some water. These things take time.” With a grumble, Glimmer let Bow lead her away from the middle of the room. Adora dropped her head, cheeks already beginning to burn up. It’s not like she wasn’t trying...she just wasn’t as gifted as a queen in the dance department. She was a fighter, not some spinning, flowy dress-wearing cupcake. Not that Glimmer wasn’t also a fighter, but she hadn’t been raised the same way Adora had been. 

A clawed finger flicked her chin, drawing her attention up. Catra was standing in front of her, watching her with a raised brow. “You’re really just going to give up like that? Gee, I didn’t know the great and mighty She-Ra was a quitter.”

“Not now, Catra.” Adora sighed and turned around, heading toward the water bottle that sat with the rest of her things. She loved her girlfriend, really, but after an hour of enduring insults from Bright Moon’s queen, Adora really wasn’t in the mood for teasing. 

“Hey, I’m just messing with you.” Catra’s voice followed her to the water bottle, coming up beside her. “You’ll get it eventually.”

Adora took a sip before looking at her. Maybe it was just the lighting, since Entrapta had found a way to change the brightness and colors of the lights on the ship, but Catra looked exceptionally pretty today. She was always pretty, there wasn’t a lie there, but something about today just made Adora’s insides twist. Ever since heading off into space, they hadn’t been spending as much time together as they had originally thought they would. With Adora being an early riser and Catra waking up at noon most of the time, for one, they were unable to start their days together. Adora was almost always preoccupied by the time Catra woke up, usually with what Catra liked to call “She-Ra work”, aka learning what she could about every planet Entrapta found in their universe so she would know which ones held magic and were in need of help. They still saw one another often, but rarely alone anymore. Maybe they could relax when they decided to head back home. And besides, they hadn’t been in space too terribly long. Not long enough to cause alarm. But compared to how they had been practically sewn together at the hip back home, it was a bit of a change. 

“Maybe I’m just better off watching from the sidelines.” Adora shrugged and screwed the lid on her bottle. “I mean, you know I’m not built for that.” She gestured toward where she and Glimmer had been dancing. “I’m built for fighting and getting dirty and swinging a big sword. That’s the only thing I’m good at.” 

“Not the only thing,” Catra protested, her tail snaking around Adora’s thigh and a hand going to rest at her waist. Adora inhaled at the sudden contact. Two months together and their change in physical intimacy still managed to put butterflies in Adora’s belly, and not to mention that these days, she was only close to Catra when they were alone in their room and fast asleep. In fact, she was pretty sure the last time they had kissed longer for three seconds had been back on Bright Moon before leaving. Which made physical contact that much more electric. After the moment’s shock, though, she leaned into the embrace and reached for Catra’s free hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles and holding it tightly. 

“Oh, yeah? What else am I good at? Making a total fool of myself?”

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself.” Adora caught herself from stumbling when Catra nudged her with her hip. The scowl she had set vanished when she saw the teasing, yet endearing expression on Catra’s face. 

“I’m not trying to be.” Adora turned so that she was facing her. Their bodies were millimeters apart. “It’s just that...I’m She-Ra, and She-Ra is supposed to be good at everything, and I’m clearly not.” Things came so easily to her as She-Ra. Even growing up, Adora had always been a fast learner. She was embarrassed that it was taking so long to learn something children could do, even if it wasn’t that big of a deal. It still mattered to her. 

“Your flaws are what make you who you are, Adora.” Catra rubbed her thumb in circles on Adora’s hip. “They make you normal and like the rest of us. I love your flaws, every last one.”

Adora pressed their foreheads together and closed her eyes. “I see Perfuma’s getting through.”

“Maybe a little.” Catra’s hand ghosted up Adora’s neck, fingers resting in the hair beneath the pony tail. “You don’t always have to be good at everything. Besides,” Adora could hear the grin in her voice, “it’s great entertainment watching Etheria’s savior be humbled by tripping over her own feet.” 

Adora opened her eyes just to roll them. “I’m so glad you find me amusing.” 

That made them both chuckle. Catra tilted her head up and kissed her gently. Adora could’ve stayed there for hours, savoring this rare moment of intimacy with her girlfriend, but Catra pulled away before she got the chance to deepen the kiss. 

“Come on.” She tugged on Adora’s arm, back to the center of the room. “What you need is a new teacher.”

“Are you calling me unqualified?” They both turned their heads to look at Glimmer, who did not seem too thrilled to see Adora with a different instructor. 

“Not at all, Sparkles.” Catra winked at her. “But I know Adora, quite well, in fact.” She pinched Adora’s waist jokingly, and Adora slapped at her hand. One of Catra’s favorite activities was making Adora squirm, and that included subtly telling the entire world the kinds of things that were meant to remain private. “She needs someone who understands her.”

“We’ve been friends for years! I understand her!” Glimmer argued, hands going to her hips. 

“But not in the way she needs.” Without waiting for an answer, Catra turned back to Adora and backed up a few steps. Adora bit the inside of her cheek. Was this really a good idea? She had already come to the conclusion that she was a lost cause, doomed to a life of stepping on her dance partner’s feet. Catra was a natural dancer, she knew from their shared handful of balls from just the past couple of months, but was she good enough to teach Adora?

“Catra, are you sure-”

“Just trust me.” Catra bowed and gave Adora that easy smile she loved so much. Sighing, Adora complied and curtsied. The dance began. They stepped forward and turned, still facing one another, and stepped back to where the other had previously been standing. When they came forward again and joined hands, Catra began her lesson.

“Dancing isn’t so different from a fight.” They broke away and made circles around the other nonexistent dancers, as it was a dance requiring multiple participants, then passed each other in a figure eight pattern. “In a fight, your opponent makes a move, and you respond to it, and vice versa. It’s the same with dancing.” Catra grabbed Adora’s hand and led her forward, backward, and forward as they came together once more. “Remember those days back in the Horde when we would spar?” They did another round of rotating the nonexistent dancers before joining hands, this time facing the other direction. Together, they stepped forward four times, then turned and took three more. “We always worked together to help make one another stronger. This isn’t different.” 

Somehow, they made it back to the beginning of the dance with no feet being stepped or tripped on. Adora’s smile was wary, though her heart soared. She took Catra’s advice and stopped worrying about messing up, focusing instead on working with her partner like how she would if they were sparring or in a fight with others. And...it was a sudden shift. She watched Catra move, mirroring her and working as a unit instead of opposing forces. A smile formed on her lips. She secretly enjoyed this moment with her girlfriend, a rare chance to spend time together even if they were doing something Adora was terrible at. Every brush of Catra’s hands against her sent sparks through Adora’s body; every time they locked eyes, Adora fought back the pink blush that painted itself across her face. 

Before she knew it, they had completed the dance, which was only three cycles. Bow had hit play on the music somewhere in the middle, and she curtsied as the last orchestral note faded out. For the first time in forever, Adora hadn’t tripped over her partner’s feet or made a fool of herself. 

“See? Not so bad, Princess.” Based on the smug curl of her lips, Adora could tell Catra was enjoying being the one better at something, for once. Remnants of their competitive nature that had been around since childhood. 

Adora took a few steps in her direction, but not too rushed. It was obvious by Catra’s body language that she was expecting a certain reward; Adora wasn’t going to give it to her that easy. “Well, I guess I had a decent teacher.”

Catra glanced over her shoulder at Adora’s maps, then back at her advancing form. She narrowed her eyes, as if she could tell exactly what was going on in Adora’s head. Adora’s smile became a smirk when she decided to play along with the new game. “Don’t you have some doodling you need to get back to?”

Behind her, Adora half heard Bow whisper something to Glimmer, and then they slipped out of the room. It was almost funny that they had grown used to the couple acting like this and knew when to give them some privacy, as Catra and Adora were too stubborn to take their public displays elsewhere. They had spent years repressing emotions and harboring feelings, always told that love of any form was wrong. Now, they were finally able to be vocal about those things and not hold back. It was wonderful. And right now, Adora wanted nothing more than to just relax with her girl. Her love. Her best friend. 

Holding out a hand, letting Catra take the remaining steps between them if she wanted, Adora smiled calmly. “Dance with me?”

“We just did, dummy.” Catra’s eyes fell to her outstretched hand. Her tail flicked. “And our DJ is gone.”

“Please?” 

It didn’t take much more convincing than that simple request. Adora had learned how much she vocalized her want and affection for Catra was music to the feline’s ears; she never had to ask twice. Closing the space between them, Catra took Adora’s hand, letting Adora pull her even closer and lace their fingers together. They may have still been new at the whole dating and touching and romance thing, but Adora felt as though she was doing just fine. 

She felt Catra’s muscles relax underneath her as she wrapped an arm around the other girl’s waist. Catra’s hand snaked to rest behind her neck, fingers skimming beneath the fabric of her turtleneck. This was what Adora had been craving, just a moment alone with the love of her life amidst everything going on. A chance to take a deep breath and bask in Catra’s presence without worrying about saving the universe or being heroes or any of that. 

They swayed to imaginary music, not needing it, with their foreheads pressed together. Every now and then, one of them got bold and spun the other, or they made up a ridiculous move together that had them both in giggles. 

Adora didn’t step on her feet once.


End file.
